, 1887-03-30

WnaG we WISH TO De the blessings
we inherit, or the power we possess of
securing peace and triumphing over pain
and sorrow. knowledge is power and much
more than power. "What pleasure" said
Bacon, lis comparable to that of standing on
the vantage ground of truth" We are told
that Cineas, the philosopher, once asked
Pyrrhus what he would do when he had
conquered Italy. 81 will conquer Sici-
ly," "And after Sicily?" 'Then Africa"
"And after you have conquered the world p
Il will take my ease and be merry"
''Then," asked Cineas, "why can you not
take your ease and be merry now?" More.
over, as Sir Arthur Helps has wisely pointed
out, "the enlarged view we have of the uni
verse must in measure damp personal ambi-
ton. What is it to be king, sheikh, tetrarch,
or emperor over a bit of a bit" of this little
earth? The inhabitants of Wimbledon are
setting a good example when they refuse to
confne their local expenditure to lighting and
paving the streets, to the sanitation of hou-
ses, to mere material purposes; but propose
to provide food for the mind as well as the
body, O. school for the old as we'll as for the
young for, in the words of Eplctetus, you
will do the greatest service to the State if
you shall raise, not the roofs of the houses
but the souls of the citizens; for it is better
that great souls should dwell In small houses
rather than for mean slaves to burrow in
great palaces Of course we must remember
that studies are the means and not an end.
/ spend too much time IN studies" saws
Bacon, sis sloth. Crafty men contemn studies
simple men admire them, and wise men use
them" So delightful indeed, are books that
we must be careful not to neglect other du~
ties for them. In cultivating the mind We
must not neglect the body. | allude to this
because I should be sorry that those who adj
-~Az-o H. E-
libraries should be suspected of undertaking
the Importance of health, or wishing our peo~
pie to become mere bookworms. Of that,
indeed, there is not, I think, much fear.
Englishmen happily combine with the love
of literature a keen and healthy delight in
fresh air and field sports. [ hope this library
may be much used. No doubt we in and
round London are all very busy, It is griev-
Gus to reflect how small q part of our life we
can call our own. Il have lived" said Lamb
'nominally fifty years, but deduct from them
the hours | have lived for other people and
not for myself, and you will find me still q
young fellow You will have works here no
doubt of art, of science, and of literature.
For art, | must leave others to speak. AS
regards science, those who have not tried for
themselves can hardly imagine now much it
adds to the interest and variety of life. It is
altogether q mistake to regard it as dry, diff
cult, or prosaic. Much of science is as easy
as it is interesting. Technical works, descrip-
tions of species, &c, bear the same relation
to science as dictionaries do to literature. In
endless aspects science is as wonderful as
a fairy tale. At the same time it will proba-
bly, be found that the great demand here will
be for literature rather than for art Or SCIENCE
and l love to think how many happy hours
are in store for you here in company with our
great poets and novelists, travellers, and his
torians. With this library open to you, you
have a safe retreat from the cares and ankle
ties of the world. With this library open to
you, no one in Wimbledon ought ever to be
dull again. There must, of course, be sor-
row and suffering, but no one who has access
to q library need be at a loss to make life in
teresting. AS you sit here, indeed, time will
fly all too quickly. Here you may sit in your
chair, and still be, in the quaint words of
Sir T. Browne, like Pompey and his sons,
in all quarters of the earth" You may travel
round the world with Captain Cook or Darwin
Kingsley or Ruskin, who will show you more
than you would have seen by yourselves. The
world itselfhas no limits foryou. Humboldta and
Herschel will carry you away into space,
even to the mysterious nebule, fa@beyond
the sun, or even the stars. Time has no
more bounds than space. History stretches
out behind you, and geology will carry you
far away beyond the utmost limits of history.
Nay, even the material universe itself Occu,